System and process for sorting and recovery of recyclable materials from mixed municipal solid waste

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12440852-B1
Application number	US-202318218490-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Jul 5, 2023
Priority date	Aug 5, 2021
Publication date	Oct 14, 2025
Grant date	Oct 14, 2025

Abstract

A system and process for sorting and recovery of recyclable materials, and in particular, sorting and recovery of recyclable materials from mixed waste comprising municipal solid waste in a materials recovery facility or “MRF” are provided. Advanced technology and machinery are integrated into a multi-step system and process that are designed to treat contaminated MSW streams to meet or exceed minimum material quality specifications while also reducing and minimizing headcount of sorter personnel. Because the mix of materials in MSW can be so varied and unpredictable, the system and process are designed to effectively sort and recover desired materials from MSW streams having a variety of material compositions.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A process for sorting and recovering materials from a solid waste stream, the process comprising:
screening the solid waste stream in a primary screener to separate corrugated cardboard from the solid waste stream,
screening the solid waste stream in a secondary screener comprising a vibrating sizing screen to separate 2D materials from 3D materials, resulting in a 2D solid waste stream having 2D materials comprising paper, film plastic, cardboard, brown fiber and containers, and a 3D solid waste stream having 3D materials comprising cardboard, plastic containers, aluminum containers and fines;
passing the 2D solid waste stream through one or more optical sorters to separate plastic, cardboard, and brown fiber from the 2D solid waste stream;
recombining the 2D solid waste stream and the 3D solid waste stream to produce a recombined solid waste stream;
after recombining and with no additional treatment, introducing the recombined solid waste stream into a mechanical separator and separating the recombined solid waste stream into fines materials, mixed paper materials, and containers materials comprising bottles, cans, and residual paper;
conveying the containers materials from the mechanical separator to one or more magnets to remove ferrous material;
recovering residual paper from the containers material; and
combining the residual paper with the mixed paper materials from the mechanical separator.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the mechanical separator comprises one or more ballistic separators.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the residual paper is recovered from the containers material in an optical sorter.

Assignees

• Wm Intellectual Property Holdings L L C

Inventors

• Torriere Robert

Classifications

• B03B13/04

  using electrical or electromagnetic effects · CPC title

• B03B13/00

  Control arrangements specially adapted for wet-separating apparatus or for dressing plant, using physical effects · CPC title

• B03B9/065

  the refuse being building rubble · CPC title

• B03B9/063

  the refuse being concrete slurry · CPC title

• Y02W30/52

  Mechanical processing of waste for the recovery of materials, e.g. crushing, shredding, separation or disassembly · CPC title